Is the Surface Pro 3 still good? Are you looking at a second-hand purchase? This extensive review has now been updated for 2019/2020. TLD: It’s positive, and 6500 words follow…
Read the full storyIs the Surface Pro 3 still good? Are you looking at a second-hand purchase? This extensive review has now been updated for 2019/2020. TLD: It’s positive, and 6500 words follow…
Read the full storyI’ve got a Sony Vaio Pro 13 here thanks to Intel. It’s the lightest touch-enabled 13.3-inch Ultrabook there is and at 1KG / 2.2 pounds it beats all of the the 2-in-1 options. This isn’t a cheap subnotebook but it’s got enough power to be a desktop PC for most people.
A lot of people have been asking the very sensible question – Why Ultrabook when you can get a 1.5KG notebook that delivers the same battery life and runs at a higher clock rate?
Update: A follow-up test, focussing on CPU power only, has now been published.
In nearly all comparison cases, the ‘lower clocked’ Ultrabook is based on an Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) 1.3-1.8Ghz Core i3, i5 or i7 CPU and is being compared to a laptop running a standard mobile equivalent of 2.2-2.5Ghz. With Intel Turbo Boost some of the clock rates can go higher but it’s not important for the comparison.
What’s the difference?
The Acer Aspire S3 is just about the lowest cost route into sub 1.5kg (3.3lb) laptopping there is, at least if you want an unrestricted Core processing platform. The 1.6Ghz Core i5-based Aspire S3 with Turbo Boost to 2.3Ghz, a hybrid (fast boot, fast resume) 320GB drive, 13″ screen, ultra-fast resume and a good suite of full-size ports, including a full+size SDHC card port, is significantly cheaper than other Ultrabook and Ultrabook-like options. Over the next week I’ll be giving it the full suite of Ultrabooknews tests for you. You won’t find this detail anywhere else: Unboxing and overview, first impressions, battery power analysis, live review with Q&A and of course a full detailed review.
I’m loving it! The Samsung 900X1B is an 11.6 inch notebook running an Intel Core processor with a battery life of 5-6hrs in web-working scenarios. Sounds big and heavy right? It’s not. The price matches the productivity potential and it’s working well as a partner to my 7 inch Galaxy Tab Android Tablet.
The Samsung 900X1B is part of the Series 9 range that includes a 13 inch version and it’s designed around the ‘Ultrabook’ principle of efficient, light and stylish. It’s been available for a few months now but in my opinion it’s one of the best 11.6 inch notebooks out there. It weighs 1.06KG, 2.33Lbs and has a dynamic range that excites me. From 2.8W screen-off idle to 31W video processing. This stylish bit of kit can handle a huge range of tasks.
Yes it’s a desktop device (although I’ve done some one-handed action with it in the last 48hrs) and it’s not in the same category as an Ultra-Mobile, handheld PC device but given the lack of solutions in that area and the improvement in 7 inch tablet devices recently, this fits in as a perfect portable PC companion.
I want one. Although having said that I think the Core i3 version I have here is unnecessarily constrained. Core i5 at 1.6Ghz with Intel Turbo Boost action would extend the dynamic range even further without major battery life penalties but, here in Europe, the 900X1B with Core i3 and 4GB RAM, 64GB storage is dropping in price quickly. It’s €880 right now. Very attractive and a lot of PC and quality engineering for the price. Matt screen, back-lit and high-quality keyboard, fast SSD, Gigabit Ethernet (via wobbly adaptor) and more.
OK let me stop now. If you’re interested, check out my first impressions, battery life test at Ultrabooknews.com and then join me on Sat 3rd Dec 2011 at 2100 CET (Your timezone details here.) for a live Q&A and review [I’ll be live here]. Those of you that were interested in high-end netbooks are going to love this. If the price is too high for you, just wait. This is the sort of 1KG laptop that will be $500 in a few years. Mark my words! Devices like this will totally displace the high-end netbook market.
Did you take a look at the Samsung 900X1B and think hmm, 1.3Ghz with no Turbo = Not good enough? Take another look because there’s a 1.6Ghz Core i5 (2467M) version on its way. You’ll get turbo goodness to 2.3Ghz with the Samsung NP-900X1B-A03
The Series 9, available in 11″ and 13″ matt screen sizes, is not strictly an Ultrabook due to lack of Intel Anti Theft core but apart from that, it’s a close match to the Asus UX21
We reviewed the 13″ Series 9 here.
On the minus side you have only 2GB of RAM and 64GB in the base version (we’re seeing a 4GB, 128GB version too) and if the SSD is the same as I tested in the 13″ version, it’s not as fast as the ASUS UX21 but it’s not a slow-coach either. On the plus-side you get a MicroSD slot (it’s a real shame this isn’t a full-size slot but it could be useful for storage expansion if it supports SDXC), an illuminated keyboard, the same weight as the UX21 and a matt screen. USB3.0 and USB2.0 slots are included along with a mini HDMI port. An adaptor is included for 10/100/1000 ethernet. The Bluetooth variant is 3.0+HS.
As someone that is looking for a comfortable and mobile 720p video editing solution, the Intel Quick-Sync Video component is one of the most exciting for me. It contains both decode and encoding hardware that can really help when converting or rendering a video. Although the demo you see below was done on a Samsung Series 9, it’s using the same 2nd-Generation Core platfom as Ultrabooks will.
Watch reports on the Samsung Series 7 Slate PC very carefully if you’re interested in Ultrabook performance because as mentioned before, it’s a Ultrabook without the keyboard. OK, it might not have a few of the Ultrabook features like Anti-Theft and WiDi but the processing platform is the same.
I had some hands-on with the Samsung Series 7 Slate PC at IFA last week and was impressed to see it blow through 100K in a CrystalMark test. That puts it at about 5X the score that a netbook would get and about 50% of the speed of the quad-core Intel Core 2 Q6600 2.4Ghz desktop I’m using right now. In summary, a very usable amount of processing, disk and memory speed that is unlikely to keep you waiting….and all in a platform that runs between about 6 and 25W of power usage. Amazing!
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